


Souyo Week 2020!

by UpDownLeftGone



Category: Persona 4
Genre: M/M, Souyo Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:48:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24869401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpDownLeftGone/pseuds/UpDownLeftGone
Summary: oops here we are againDay 1:Father's Dayor Cloudy | Fatherly LoveDay 2:Yosuke's BirthdayorSunny| ConstellationsDay 3:FeelorWindy| Stale WindDay 4:SoundorRainy| First Day of My LifeDay 5: Taste orSnowy| Self Proclaimed Snow Day
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu, Hanamura Yosuke/Persona 4 Protagonist, Hanamura Yosuke/Seta Souji
Comments: 30
Kudos: 38
Collections: Souyoweek 2020





	1. Fatherly Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 1: Father's Day

Souji’s parents were never much for celebrations. Birthdays, anniversaries, mother’s day, and especially father’s day went largely unnoticed. In fact, he remembers back in grade school when the school market came around for father’s day. He bought a snowglobe that said something along the lines of “#1 Dad!” inside of a fake-snowy machine-painted tiny landscape.  
Upon presenting Mr. Narukami with the gift, Souji stood proud while his dad plopped it right in the mysterious “drawer of stuff” stashed away in his office, where many-a-thing went to never be seen again. In hindsight, it wasn’t exactly a “gift from the heart” some of the other kids made, like some poorly drawn card, or pipe-cleaner stick figure labeled “dad”, but the snowglobe - which was probably broken on impact - didn’t deserve that fate. Souji didn’t pay much attention to father’s day after that. 

A few years later, Dojima went into the gas station, leaving Nanako, Souji, and Yosuke sitting in the family SUV when Nanako’s eyes brightened.  
“Look!” Nanako, sitting in the backseat, reached into the small car pocket in front of her.  
Yosuke, sitting next to her, looked over curiously at what she had found.  
Nanako beamed further as she opened up the construction paper card in her hands, “I made this for dad last year on father’s day! He says he keeps it with him at work.”  
The card wasn’t an artistic masterpiece, but Yosuke still seemed to respect it. “Wow Nanako-chan, that’s cool! Isn’t father’s day coming up again soon?”  
“It’s tomorrow! But… I couldn’t make dad anything this year…”  
Yosuke immediately felt bad as he watched Nanako’s face fall, he had to do something quick! “Wait! Me and partner can help you!”  
Souji, meanwhile in the front seat, snapped out of his father’s day experience at his Yosuke-given nickname.  
Nanako looked at both of them hopefully. “You guys can…?”  
“Of course we can Nanako-chan! It’ll be a father’s day to remember! Isn’t that right, partner?”  
Souji hesitated for a second, watching Yosuke start to deteriorate back into panic, before seeing the hopeful look in his cousin’s face and giving a firm nod.  
“It’s set then, Nanako-chan! Tomorrow will be the best father’s day ever!”  
Nanako and Yosuke shared their ideas in the back while Souji silently panicked in the front seat, until Dojima returned from the gas station and the car went back to silence. 

~~~

“That’ll be perfect Nanako-chan!” Yosuke exclaimed as Nanako ran up to him with a package of pink balloons and a banner saying ‘Happy Father’s Day!”  
Souji stood back, beyond the snow globe incident, he had no clue how to celebrate father’s day. All of the cards and decorations and cakes stared down at him like an overbearing birthday party for dads only.  
He didn’t realize Yosuke was calling him from across the decorations aisle. “... -ner! Partner! Hey man, we’re gonna go get these balloons filled. You gonna come with?”  
Souji looked over, finally realizing the plethora of balloons and streamers they two were carrying. “Sure.” 

Yosuke knew something was wrong. Souji, while normally quiet, usually at least had some input. He seemed to be walking a bit more hunched through the aisles of Junes. Normally, Yosuke would bring it up, but he couldn’t bring down Nanako’s excitement, and in a way hoped she couldn’t see that something was bothering her big bro. Father’s day seemed very important to her.  
“Whoa!” Nanako spotted something and ran forward, right to a giant stuffed orange cat with a heart between it’s paws saying “Best Dad”.  
“Big bro! You really like the cats around the neighborhood, you should get this for dad!”  
Yosuke could tell Souji wasn’t a huge fan of the idea, but Nanako looked so excited, standing on her tippy-toes trying to knock the cat down from the top shelf.  
“Nanako-chan, wait a minute.” She stopped and turned around, confused. “Dojima-san isn’t Souji’s dad! You call him big bro, but you have to remember he’s still your cousin!” Yosuke strangled out a laugh in an attempt to sell his rather dull point.  
Even if it wasn't super convincing, Nanako relinquished the cat plush with a frown, and Souji let out a sigh under his breath, and they were back on track to the helium tanks. 

The bag of balloons had exactly 30 balloons in it, it was a real steal Yosuke found while stocking the shelves in that section, so when Nanako picked them up and gave them to him, he thought it was a great idea.  
Now that they were at the helium tanks and the disgruntled part timer was staring him down as Nanako handed him balloon after balloon, not listening when Yosuke said that 10 was more than enough, and also realizing he’d have to hold all the balloons in his house for a day, it did not seem like a great idea.

And that’s how Yosuke ended up walking back to his house getting tossed around by 30 pink father’s day balloons.  
Souji still lagged behind as they reached the Samegawa, and Yosuke’s arm was screaming for mercy (holding things that were lighter than air was tough when the wind batters them around like a personal punching bag).  
“Hey Nanako-chan?”  
“Hum?”  
“Wanna go play on the Samegawa for a minute? I need a walk break.”  
Her eyes lit up. “Sure!”  
Souji watched curiously as Nanako ran off to the green field and Yosuke took a few steps towards the gazebo, beaconing him to follow. 

“What’s bothering you? You’ve been silent since Nanako brought up father’s day,” Yosuke really wasn’t much for small talk with the people he was close to. He leaned against a pole of the gazebo, arms crossed awkwardly, the giant bunch of balloons bobbing above him.  
Souji sat down on the picnic table, thinking of a response, and shrugged instead. “Nothing, you guys just seem to have it handled.”  
“Man, I know you, you are not someone to stand back and let everyone else take care of it. Something’s wrong and I wanna know before we go party with your uncle and Nanako.”  
Souji fidgeted in his seat, a rare sight that put Yosuke on edge. “I don’t know how to celebrate father’s day. My dad was never a fan of it.”  
“What? How can a dad not like father’s day?!”  
Souji told the snowglobe story to Yosuke, the look of disbelief slowly spreading up his face.  
“Bro!! That’s horrible! But you know Dojima-san would never do anything like that, man. Dude’s a bit of a hardass but if he kept Nanako’s gift for that long then I’m sure he’d love something from you. Or at least a ‘happy father’s day’, dude’s basically your dad at this point anyways, at least more a dad then the scum back home.”  
“Yeah big bro! Dad would love it if you got him a gift!”  
“What the-!” Nanako had snuck up behind Yosuke, making him panic-step into the gazebo where both Souji and Nanako watched in horror as a pink balloon caught a splinter and popped, causing Yosuke to release the herd of balloons into the sky.  
It was like a pink sun, slowly floating up, above the powerlines, above the little houses, and above the clouds, disappearing into the evening sky.  
The trio just watched them go. There was no chase enacted, 30 balloons were too much to ever dream of catching.  
Nanako looked like she could cry before Yosuke cleared his throat, and announced they could go back to Junes. Five dollars wasted was five dollars towards the family company, after all. 

The second time around was arguably more successful than the first. They ended up with rainbow balloons instead of the monochrome pink Nanako had picked out before.  
The cat was still there. On the way to the helium tanks, Nanako ran up to it again and wouldn’t let it go until Souji agreed to get it. Luckily, this time there wasn’t any doubt in his posture.  
The part timer at the helium tank was not happy to see them again, but the sight of Souji lugging a 3 foot tall stuffed plushie gave him some entertainment as he filled up 30 more balloons from the unrelenting 8 year old. 

And that was how Yosuke, for the second time that day, was dragged around by 30 balloons on the way to his house. Just this time, with an iron grip and stern, unimpaired willpower.  
Souji wasn’t fairing much better, eventually tossing the giant cat over his shoulder like some sort of badly thought out Humane Society santa.  
Nanako was fine with carrying the bag of various other decor. 

The next day, while Dojima was at work, Yosuke showed up holding all 30 of the balloons in pristine condition. Souji and Yosuke hung up the banner in the entryway as Nanako ran around with streamers and tape, putting the multicolored pieces of paper anywhere she could. The rainbow balloons filled the ceiling in the living room, and the giant cat was plush perched in Souji’s spot at the kotatsu.  
By the time they were done, it looked like an entire pride parade was held within the confines of the small home. 

At 7pm sharp, Dojima opened the door, expecting nothing past another home-made card and maybe a flower from Nanako. Instead all the lights were off, and the ceiling looked strangely round.  
“Huh?”  
“SURPRISE!” Balloons. Lots and lots of balloons.  
Nanako ran up to him from her spot on the couch, giving his right leg a giant hug. “Yosuke-nii and big bro helped me set this up! Happy father’s day!”  
Dojima eventually fell into a smile as he looked around, noting the streamers and the banner.  
Souji and Yosuke were in the kitchen, cooking something in a large pot. It smelled amazing.  
“The lights and balloons were Nanako-chan’s idea,” Yosuke smirked as he stirred the pot.  
“And the banner!”  
“And the banner.”  
“Dad! Look! Look what big bro got you!”  
Souji followed as Nanako dragged her dad into the living room.  
He started laughing as his eyes fell and the giant 3 foot tall cat plush in Souji’s place. Nanako smacked his leg. It’s cute! I saw it! Big bro got it for you!”  
Eventually, his laughter ceased. “Really?”  
“Yeah, really,” Yosuke said from the kitchen, getting the bowls ready.  
Dojima eventually turned to face his nephew, arms crossed, but stern look faltering. “Thanks, kid.”  
His arms uncrossed into a hug, and Nanako cheered as Yosuke brought the stew to the table, a smile on his face, dodging balloon strings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> souyo week but make it a day late whoopsiessss  
> I like to do these week-long fanfic things the day they're due because my life needs more challenge. fell a bit behind yesterday but we can pretend i'm just in a time paradox. its sunday here i swear


	2. Constellations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Yosuke's Birthday & Sunny

Normally, June leant itself to rainstorm on top of rainstorm. Spring was the rainy season for a reason, and the beginning of summer wasn’t much better. It was normally a coin flip as to whether Yosuke’s birthday would be clear and sunny or rainy and gross. 

  


This year, it was clear, sunny, and totally beach time. 

  


The team decided to meet up around noon, with plans to stay at the beach the whole day. Yu made a birthday cake, Chie and Yukiko tried to make a birthday cake, and Kanji made a cute little frog doll for him. 

With everyone together at Yu’s house, the group left on a team of scooters riding down the road until they hit the ever familiar waters of Shichiri Beach, setting up their towels and even a mobile grill Yu brought in an attempt to make dinner. 

It was all the ingredients to make a perfect birthday. Sucks it didn’t end up that way.

Yu’s cake looked phenomenal, at least until Chie tripped over a loose towel and it ended up in the sand. Kanji’s gift was absolutely amazing, until Teddie thought it was waterproof. And finally, no one was told to bring sunscreen, making the hot summer sun impossible to suffer through. 

It was about two hours before they all ended up under a pavilion, sweating to death and half sunburned, before Yu remembered the grill. 

Sucks it was gas powered, and the propane container was empty. 

So, with hot dogs rotting and T-shirts rubbing against sore blisters, the team turned homebound.

“Sorry Yosuke, sucks this didn’t turn out. Me and Yukiko still have a cake back home though!” Chie walked alongside Yosuke as they made their way back to the scooters. 

He had to burn down the urge to yell “No!” Instead stomping up to his orange scooter, kicking up the kickstand, and in the creme de la creme of the day, the how-could-this-get-worse of the worse, the 2020 of 2014, his scooter sputtered, flumped, and turned back off. 

He swore, everyone looked sorry. It could’ve been the light, but Yu seemed less sorry and more sad, disappointed even.

It took a few minutes of Yosuke stomping on the ignition, the sputtering scooter going out in seconds, and repeating before Yukiko suggested they just tow it tomorrow. 

“How am I gonna get home!?” Yosuke went for the ignition again before Yu put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Just ride on the back of mine.” 

Yosuke swore again before finally relenting, clambering on the back of Yu’s scooter, hands firmly clamped on the bottom of the seat, Yu’s grey backpack hooked behind him. 

And the team was off, back home much sooner than they expected, the day seemingly ruined. 

Yosuke stayed silent, as did Yu, but he noticed they were lagging behind the rest of the group as they sped towards Inaba. He assumed it was due to the added weight, but they’d zoomed around on his scooter before without any issue. Something was off.

And it was certainly more concerning when Yu turned off on a side road, the rest of the group going ahead, oblivious in their sour moods to their lost counterparts. 

“Uhh… partner?” 

“They’ll be fine.” 

They sped off down the path, landscape getting more mountainous, trees covering the blaring summer sun. 

It wasn’t until Yu stopped at a gas station that Yosuke questioned him again. 

“Partner?” 

“Hum?” 

“Where the heck are we going, dude, the rest of the teams gonna be worried!”

Yu took off his helmet, kicking down the kickstand, and entering the small convenience store. “You’ll see, don’t worry about it.” 

Yosuke was left alone while Yu went to go buy something and briefly wondered if he should run. It felt like he’d just been kidnapped. Was this planned??

He didn’t have enough time to run as Yu emerged with a bag, put his helmet back on and smiled at Yosuke, instantly quelling the majority of his concerns.

The hill slowly got steeper, and the trees slowly got thicker, signs for nearby towns slowly faded away. 

The road eventually turned to gravel, and the trees kept getting bushier, before Yu slowed to a stop on the side of the road, a small dirt trail leading off to the side. 

“Ok I think you have to tell me where we’re going now, partner.” Yosuke stood outside the trail, arms crossed as Yu stretched out his hand, asking Yosuke to grab it. 

After a few minutes and with a sigh, he did, and Yu gave a smirky smile, pulling him along the trail. 

“I found this place once when I was out riding around, I meant to go to the beach but I took a wrong turn.” 

They walked slowly, the overhead trees blocking the view of the still blazing summer sun. 

“That feels sketchy dude, can’t believe you weren’t murdered.”

Yu shook his head. “So is diving in headfirst to a world within a TV, but here we are.” 

Yosuke huffed at that, but the poke was quickly forgotten as an arch came into view. 

“What…” 

“It’s an old shrine. I don’t think many people know about it this far up in the mountains.” 

“Reminds me of the one in Inaba. Seen any foxes yet?”

“Not yet, no. But I was reading up on this shrine and…”

“Oh god it’s haunted isn’t it?!”

“No, not haunted. Just seems… lucky.” 

“Lucky?” 

“Lucky. Here check this out.” 

As Yu led Yosuke around to the other side of the shrine, he ran his hand along the old wood of the temple, still holding strong after so many years despite the moss. 

He glanced inside, but Yu yanked him along at a force greater than before. Yosuke gave him an odd look, but Yu didn’t acknowledge his sudden strength. 

At the other side of the shrine laid a small grass field and a sudden cliff with a single bench. 

Yu unzipped his backpack, taking out the plastic bag from the gas station, revealing a new propane tank and a large fuzzy blanket full of orange circles. 

“You can keep it when we’re done, think of it as an apology for dropping the cake.”

“But Chie dropped the cake, shouldn’t she be apologizing?” 

“Think of it as an apology from her from me before she even knows she apologized.” Yu hooked up the propane tank to the small gas grill on the bench, and turned it on with a few clicks.

Yosuke found his spot on the blanket. “Well, she’s not one to to give sorry gifts anyways.”

Yu didn’t say much as he took out the now mostly warm hot dogs (they were  _ probably _ fine) and Yosuke finally managed to look around.

The small cliff was like the Samegawa met the overlook back in Inaba, just with an even more spectacular view. A waterfall lent itself to white noise across a large valley, a small town resting on the side of a small lake, where he could hardly make out children playing on the shoreline. 

He wondered if the shrine was built for that village. Perhaps it was much bigger at one point. Maybe a large box store moved in and killed it and then the shrine was forgotten. 

Before he could go too far down that thought trail however, Yu knelt down on the blanket, hot dogs in hand. 

They ate mostly in silence, seemingly a common pattern that day. 

“Pretty, hum?” Yu asked between bites.

“Wha- oh, yeah.”

“I reminded me of the TV world after we defeated Izanami at first, the hills here just seem much more green than back in Inaba.”

Yosuke looked around again, the bright sun did make the grass seem greener. “Yeah, I can see that. It is… really pretty out here.”

There was a pause as they ate their food and enjoyed the view.

“Sorry about your birthday, I know it wasn’t what you wanted.” 

Yosuke shook his head, chewing on the last of his hotdog. “It wasn’t but…”

Yu looked up, hopefully.

“... thanks, partner,” a smile grew across Yosuke’s face for what seemed to be the first time today. “This is nice.”

Yu smiled, putting the remainder of his hot dog down. “I’m glad I could at least salvage today a little bit.” 

  


~~~

  


The stars that night were bright in the complete darkness, even brighter than in Inaba. They probably should’ve went back long before nightfall, but Yosuke found himself lying on the blacket and talking with Yu for hours, before they both lost the time and it was dark. But they didn’t mind.

“Do you know any constellations?” Yu laid next to Yosuke on the blanket, hands behind his head as a makeshift pillow, staring up at the sky. 

Yosuke laid on his back, one hand on his stomach, the other at his side. “Uh, big dipper?” 

Yu searched the sky for a second before pointing up in the sky. “There.”

“I don’t really get constellations.” Yosuke frowned. “It’s just a big spoon.”

“Actually, it’s a bear. It’s a bear being chased by hunters.”

“How the hell did you get that?”

“School.” 

Yosuke tilted his head, looking at the big dipper. “I don’t see a bear, like, at all.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to. It’s just a line, and the three stars behind it are men.”

“Strange… you know any others?”

Yu scanned the sky before pointing at a cluster of three stars. “Cancer.”

“Oh, yeah, the crab. That’s me, I think.” 

“Mhum. I’m pretty sure it’s just a crab.”

“Still doesn’t look like a crab.”

“You get kicked to the stars in the myth, I’m pretty sure.”

Yosuke laughed. “Like Chie hasn’t already done that.” 

They talked about constellations and their meanings, Yosuke didn’t really understand what stars had to do with greek gods, but he found the stories interesting, something so mythical grounded in real life stars, millions of years away. 

Eventually, Yu feel asleep in the grass, a peaceful face looking up at the clear stars the bright sun left behind in its wake.

  


The inside of the shrine was dark, Yosuke wandered in between the moss and the wood, leaves cracking through the ceiling. 

There, strangely out of place in the old shrine, he found a single Ema. 

“I wish for my best friend, the person who I love, to have the best birthday ever.”

Yosuke closed his eyes, the short, scribbled sentence confirmed what he’d already been told through that evening.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can 100% tell i've been itching to replay night in the woods in this one


	3. Stale Wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3: Feel & Windy

He could feel it. The feeling of the wind, the breeze of battle. The Magarudyne sped towards them, fast as a tornado, grey hair whipping back as it connected with the enemies, felled to the ground.

The feeling of the end of battle lingers for the few seconds that the long-dulled high still allows, he feels the sweat cooling as the empty hallway stretches out before them, a stale experience still forcing itself to be felt, just a pit in the stomach.

And then there’s that new feeling, the feeling when the wind died down and the man next to him came back to his senses.

The feeling of something new, something to make him smile when all is good and done, just due to the way his friend stood a little taller after he got the final blow. The little attack boost his smile gave in the next 30 or so seconds of regrouping and moving on, a quick light in the normally dark dungeons. 

And then they were moving on. Lights off, serious face back on, stale air replacing the refreshing love of the man who harnessed the wind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya know i really didn't mean to combine the prompts for most of these. very short fic for being short one day.


	4. The First Day of My Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 4: Sound & Rainy

_ This is the first day of my life _

_ Swear I was born right in the doorway _

Yosuke was blocked up in his room for what felt like the first time in forever, the first rainstorm of the year battering the window outside. Normally he’d be out with his friends, the IT still hung out nearly daily a year after the murders were solved, but the rooftop of Junes or the Samegawa didn’t sound like the best places to be in the middle of a downpour. 

His headphones were up, a familiar song playing on his rainy playlist as he watched and listened to the wind carrying the droplets around. At least until he saw something strange outside.

_ I went out in the rain, suddenly everything changed _

_ They're spreading blankets on the beach _

He glanced out his window and sure enough, a silhouette of a familiar person was standing outside, waving towards his window.

_ Yours was the first face that I saw _

_ I think I was blind before I met you _

He quickly pulled his old rain jacket out of the closet, bright orange like most of his clothes at the time that he got it, and rushed for the front door.

_ And I don't know where I am, I don't know where I've been _

_ But I know where I want to go _

He ran outside without much thought, looking at Souji, who held a bouquet of bright orange flowers and an uncharacteristically nervous smile.

“Partner, what the heck are you doing out here!? You’re gonna catch a cold.”

“Probably, but it’s worth it.”

“Seriously, dude, it’s raining. At least come inside!”

_ And so I'd thought I'd let you know _

_ Yeah, these things take forever, I especially am slow _

And so he did, and he sat down on the couch with the flowers, wet jacket and all, nervous foot tapping.

“Bro what’s got you so worked up. This is weird.” 

“Well…”

_ But I realized that need you _

_ And I wondered if I could come home _

“I think I love you, Yosuke.”

~~~

_ Remember the time you drove all night _

_ Just to meet me in the morning? _

He wasn’t planning on doing anything that day, really, he wasn’t. It was a rainy, cruddy day and he was inside studying for when he got back from Golden Week.

_ And I thought it was strange, you said everything changed _

_ You felt as if you just woke up _

All he was doing was studying, swear it! But then it, well it hit him. A pair of discarded earbuds, that was, with a song from some playlist Yosuke sent him mumbling over the tiny speakers.

_ And you said _

_ "This is the first day of my life _

Something compelled him to pick up the grey earbuds and start the song over. He found himself listening to it, all the way through. 

_ I'm glad I didn't die before I met you _

_ But now I don't care, I could go anywhere with you _

_ And I'd probably be happy" _

And he got it, he knew he had to do something. It was like some strange ‘ah-ha!’ moment struck him in his ears. Letting whatever was going on go again when he got back on that train to Tokyo simply wasn’t an option anymore. 

_ So if you wanna be with me _

_ With these things there's no telling _

_ We just have to wait and see _

The small flower store in the shopping district was open despite the weather. He walked in soaking wet, much to the cashier’s surprise, and picked up a bouquet of different orange flowers. Maybe he was imagining it, but the cashier seemed to give him a knowing smile as he left, as if she’d had the same sudden experience. 

_ But I'd rather be working for a paycheck _

_ Than waiting to win the lottery _

_ Besides, maybe this time is different _

He knew Yosuke was in his room, the light was on, so he waved, and waved, and waved until he heard the front door fly open, and Yosuke invited him inside and he admitted what he should’ve had the courage to do a long time ago.

_ I mean, I really think you like me _

Yosuke took the flowers, hugging Yu after placing them carefully on the coffee table.

“Let’s just… see how this goes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song used: First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes


	5. Self Proclaimed Snow Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5: Snowy

Snow was always a rarity in the middle of Tokyo, but when it did snow, people never saw it as more than a nuisance. Blocking up the roads, even resulting in rare train delays. There wasn’t enough time in the city to stop and watch the flakes fall, there was no such thing as fresh snow, it was always walked over, browned, and quickly melted, as if the snow was in as much of a rush as the people who inhabited Tokyo. 

Yosuke remembers when he saw snow for the first time. He didn’t remember how old he was, just that it was in the middle of January, and he woke up to snow on the ground. Like, a lot of snow. He’d seen snowfall before, but it never painted the ground white, the sidewalks never got slippy, it was always just rain but less wet. 

He remembers his parents panicking over train delays, his mom fixing out her normal high heels for flats. Normally, he could get to school by himself, just one short and easy train and he’d be dropped off right at the entrance of his elementary school. But, for some reason, his panicked mom insisted she walk with him that day, grabbing him by the hand without breakfast, putting his favorite orange scarf around his neck, and storming out the door.

The sidewalks were slippery, masked by the little white flakes that nipped at his ankles and made his sneakers wet, his backpack bouncing behind him, scarf blowing in the wind behind him as his mom carefully, but quickly, made her way through the snow. As they passed the train station, he could make out announcements “... line delays may be expected. We apologize greatly.” The whole city seemed to take on a muted panic, kids riding their bikes replaced with hurried students, business workers cuffing their pants, and the eerie morning silence of much fewer trains. 

He didn’t get it at that age as he walked down the snow-piled sidewalk. How could such a light and fluffy thing cause so many adults to be scared? He’d heard of snowmen from his friends who moved down from the north, and snow angels, but he didn’t see any on his way to school. Just panicked adults and scared kids like him. But he wasn’t scared. It was just a little bit of ice. His scarf was lucky anyways, even if he did fall it would catch him. 

Soon, they arrived at the front gates of the school, his mom turning him to quickly fix his hair.

“Alright sweetie, have a good day ok? Watch your step on the stairs, ok?”

And like that she had turned around, running back the other way in a desperate attempt to make it to work on time. 

Yosuke paused outside of the school, he was there earlier than usual. So, instead of going in, he looked around. The snow was still fresh all around the school gates, besides where the teachers and students had trampled all over it. It looked so soft, like a pillow he could just fall into. Maybe he could make one of those snow angels, or even a snowman! Without being seen, he quickly made his way into the alley next to the school, where there was a big enough gap for snow to seep in between the buildings. 

A smile on his face, he plopped down his school bag and leapt into the snow, immediately realizing why his parents said to do the exact opposite. It was quite cold. Still, he moved his arms and legs and when he got up, he accidentally stepped in the middle of his creation, leaving 2 unsatisfying footprints in the middle of the snow angel, but the scarf imprint made it look strange anyways. He frowned. 

“What’s that?” 

Yosuke was startled out of his disappointment, turning around and stumbling back, ruining more of the fresh snow inside of his piece of art. 

“Dudeeee, it’s a snow angel, you ruined it!!” Yosuke pouted, looking down at his attacker. A boy slightly shorter than him stood over him and his snow angel. He didn’t remember his name, if they even exchanged them, but his unnaturally grey hair cut poking out of the bottom of a slightly darker grey hat wasn’t something Yosuke could forget. 

“I- uhm, I’m sorry. I just saw you walk over here and uhm, well I’ve never been allowed to play in the snow.” The boy seemed to back off a little, the white pom pom on top of his hat bouncing with his movement. 

“Oh, wellllll, it’s alright, so long as you don’t tell the teachers I’m back here!” Yosuke tightened the already damp scarf, looking at the other kid with a mischievous glare.

“Huh?! B-but we should probably get inside, class is gonna start soon.”

“School sucks anyways, we can just go in after lunch! I didn’t see a lot of people going in.”

“Are you… are you sure?”

Yosuke crossed his arms and nodded enthusiastically, like his dad did a lot. He had found himself a partner in crime.

“O- Ok.”

“So have you ever heard of a snowman??!”

“N-no.” 

“C’mon! I think I remember how Shisuka told me how to build one… you just start with a small snowball....”

Eventually, Yosuke got the other kid to open up a bit and help with the snowman. By the time all the teachers retreated into the school, they had a good base going. Eventually, the snowball got so big that they both had to push it. When they got it about half as tall as they were, they put it right on top of Yosuke’s failed snow angel. 

“Ok, now we do two more, but smaller! Like one kinda small one and one pretty small one.” Yosuke looked around for another fresh patch of snow, and started just a little further down the alley, the other boy found another patch of snow, and began on the head. 

By lunchtime, the body was complete! 

“Wow… that was fun!” The other boy looked on at their creation in pride, but Yosuke shook his head.

“She needs like, a face and stuff.” 

He sat thinking for a second, before: “Wait! I know, I know!”

Yosuke ran over to his discarded school bag, digging around until he found what he was looking for.

He returned to the snowman, two pencils in tow, and stuck it into his sides. “There, arms.”

“But now she needs a face…” the other boy reached into his own bag, producing two buttons identical to the one on his jacket, standing on his tippy-toes to stick them on the snowman's face. “Eyes!” 

“She still needs a mouth…” 

“I don’t have anything good for that.” 

They searched the sides of the alley, picking up any pebble they saw before making a mouth out of them.

“Perfect!” Yosuke said, now proud of what he built. 

But the other boy frowned. “She’s gonna get cold.” 

Yosuke looked at his scarf, his favorite orange scarf, before taking it off and wrapping it around the head of the snowman. “It’ll bring her luck, too.” 

The other kid smiled and nodded, taking off his hat, and plopping it on top of the snowman. “And this’ll keep her warm.” 

They both stood back, admiring their creation, before Yosuke turned to the other kid. 

“What class are you in anyways? I’ve never seen you before.”

“Oh, uh, upstairs… she has glasses.”

Yosuke looked at him curiously. “You don’t even know your teacher’s name??”

“I just moved here…”

“You just moved? Where are you from? Some of my friends are from up north...” 

“Uhm, I don’t know. We move a lot.”

“Oh, ok. Well we’re gonna get to know each other well! I’m Yo-”

“I’m moving again… in a week. I’m staying with grandma right now.”

“Oh - oh. Where to?”

“Reallyyy far.”

“Oh…”

The other kid suddenly looked sad, and Yosuke didn’t want him to be sad for some reason. Normally his friends made other kids sad and that was fine because they were just other kids, but he didn’t want this kid to be sad.

“Wanna make a snow angel??” 

The other boy actually smiled and nodded. 

“Race ya!”

They both ran across the alleyway, searching for newer snow, and flopping into it, creating two perfect snow angels, side by side. 

Yosuke doesn’t remember if they ever made it back to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one day off gang one day off gang. i do like how this one turned out though lol, kudos to myself honestly for keeping the angst to a min and the cute to a high so far this week


End file.
